The Ethics of Character: Virtues & Vices

8/14/2019 The Ethics of Character: Virtues & Vices

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Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.Director, The Values InstituteUniversity of San Diego

3/16/2010 (c) Lawrence M. Hinman 1

The Ethics of

Character:

Virtues & Vices


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Introduction

Concern for character

has flourished in the

West since the time ofPlato, whose early

dialogues explored such

virtues as courage and

piety.

Plato


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Two Moral Questions

The Question of Action:

How ought I to act?

The Question of Character

What kind of person ought I to be?

Our concern here is with the

question of character


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An Analogy from the Criminal

Justice System

As a country, we place our trust for just

decisions in the legal arena in two places:

Laws, which provide the necessary rules

People, who (as judge and jury) apply rules

judiciously

Similarly, ethics places its trust in:

Theories, which provide rules for conduct

Virtue, which provides the wisdom necessary for

applying rules in particular instances


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Virtue

Strength of character

(habit)

Involving both feeling

and action Seeks the mean

between excess and

deficiency relative to

us

Promotes humanflourishing

Aristotle


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Virtues and Spheres of Existence

S p h er e o f E x is t en c e D e f ic ien c y M ea n E x c es s

Attitude toward self ServilitySelf-deprecation

Proper Self-LoveProper PrideSelf-Respect

ArroganceConceitEgoism

NarcissismVanity

Attitude towardoffenses of others

Ignoring themBeing a Doormat

AngerForgiveness

Understanding

RevengeGrudge

Resentment

Attitude toward

gooddeeds of others

SuspicionEnvy

Ignoring them

GratitudeAdmiration

Overindebtedness

Attitude toward our

own offenses

IndifferenceRemorselessness

Downplaying

Agent RegretRemorse

Making AmendsLearning from them

Self-Forgiveness

Toxic GuiltScrupulosity

Shame

Attitude towardour friends

Indifference Loyalty Obsequiousness


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Spheres of Existence--2

Attitude toward ourown good deeds

BelittlingDisappointment

Sense ofAccomplishment

Humility

Self-righteousness

Attitude toward thesuffering of others

Callousness Compassion PityBleeding Heart

Attitude toward theachievements of

others

Self-satisfactionComplacencyCompetition

AdmirationEmulation

Envy

Attitude toward

deathand danger

Cowardice Courage Foolhardiness

Attitude toward ourown desires

Anhedonia TemperanceModeration

LustGluttony

Attitude towardother people

Exploitation Respect Deferentiality


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The Purpose of Morality

Both of these conceptions of

morality are appropriate at different

times in life.

Adolescence and early adulthood is

the time when some people make the

transition from the adolescentconception of morality to the adult

conception.


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Rightly-ordered Desires

Aristotle draws an interesting contrast

between:

Continent people, who have unruly desires butmanage to control them.

Temperate people, whose desires are

naturallyor through habit, second-nature

directed toward that which is good for them.

Weakness of will(akrasia) occurs when

individuals cannot keep their desires under

control.


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Rightly-ordered Desires and the Goals

of Moral Education

Moral education may initially seek to

control unruly desires through rules,

the formation of habits, etc.

Ultimately, moral education aims at

forming rightly-ordered desires, that

is, teaching people to desire what isgenuinely good for them.


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Virtue As the Golden Mean

Strength of character (virtue), Aristotle

suggests, involves finding the proper

balance between two extremes. Excess: having too much of something.

Deficiency: having too little of something.

Not mediocrity, but harmony and balance.

See examples below.


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Virtue and Habit

For Aristotle, virtue is something that

is practiced and thereby learnedit

is habit (hexis).

This has clear implications for moral

education, for Aristotle obviously

thinks that you can teach people tobe virtuous.


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Courage

The strength of character necessaryto continue in the face of our fears Deficiency: Cowardice, the inability to do what

is necessary to have those things in life whichwe need in order to flourish

Too much fear

Too little confidence

Excess Too little fear

Too much confidence Poor judgment about ends worth achieving


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Nichomachean Ethics, 3.7

What is terrible is not the same for all men; but wesay there are things terrible even beyond humanstrength. These, then, are terrible to every one- atleast to every sensible man; but the terrible things

that are not beyond human strength differ inmagnitude and degree, and so too do the thingsthat inspire confidence. Now the brave man is asdauntless as man may be. Therefore, while he willfear even the things that are not beyond humanstrength, he will face them as he ought and as the

rule directs, for honour's sake; for this is the end ofvirtue. But it is possible to fear these more, or less,and again to fear things that are not terrible as ifthey were.


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EN, 2

Of the faults that are committed one consists in

fearing what one should not, another in fearing as

we should not, another in fearing when we should

not, and so on; and so too with respect to the things

that inspire confidence. The man, then, who faces

and who fears the right things and from the right

motive, in the right way and from the right time, and

who feels confidence under the corresponding

conditions, is brave; for the brave man feels andacts according to the merits of the case and in

whatever way the rule directs.


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EN, 3

Now the end of every activity is conformity to thecorresponding state of character. This is true, therefore, of thebrave man as well as of others. But courage is noble.Therefore the end also is noble; for each thing is defined by itsend. Therefore it is for a noble end that the brave man endures

and acts as courage directs. Of those who go to excess hewho exceeds in fearlessness has no name (we have saidpreviously that many states of character have no names), buthe would be a sort of madman or insensible person if hefeared nothing, neither earthquakes nor the waves, as they saythe Celts do not; while the man who exceeds in confidenceabout what really is terrible is rash. The rash man, however, isalso thought to be boastful and only a pretender to courage; atall events, as the brave man is with regard to what is terrible,so the rash man wishes to appear; and so he imitates him insituations where he can.


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EN, 4

Hence also most of them are a mixture of rashness

and cowardice; for, while in these situations they

display confidence, they do not hold their ground

against what is really terrible. The man who exceeds

in fear is a coward; for he fears both what he ought

not and as he ought not, and all the similar

characterizations attach to him. He is lacking also in

confidence; but he is more conspicuous for his

excess of fear in painful situations. The coward,

then, is a despairing sort of person; for he fearseverything.


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EN, 5

The brave man, on the other hand, has the opposite

disposition; for confidence is the mark of a hopeful

disposition. The coward, the rash man, and the

brave man, then, are concerned with the sameobjects but are differently disposed towards them;

for the first two exceed and fall short, while the third

holds the middle, which is the right, position; and

rash men are precipitate, and wish for dangers

beforehand but draw back when they are in them,while brave men are keen in the moment of action,

but quiet beforehand.


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EN, 6

As we have said, then, courage is a meanwith respect to things that inspireconfidence or fear, in the circumstances thathave been stated; and it chooses or enduresthings because it is noble to do so, orbecause it is base not to do so. But to die toescape from poverty or love or anythingpainful is not the mark of a brave man, but

rather of a coward; for it is softness to flyfrom what is troublesome, and such a manendures death not because it is noble but tofly from evil.


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Courage

The strength of character necessaryto continue in the face of our fears. Deficiency: cowardice, the inability to do what

is necessary to have those things in life whichwe need in order to flourish.

T c f r.

T littl c fi c .

Excess: T littl f r.

T c c fi c .

r j t t s rt c i i .


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Courage

Both children and adults need courage.

Without courage, we are unable to take the

risks necessary to achieve some of thethings we most value in life.

Risk to ask someone out on a date.

Risk to show genuine vulnerability.

Risk to try an academically challengingprogram such as pre-med.


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Courage and the Unity of the

Virtues

To have any single strength of character

in full measure, a person must have the

other ones as well. Courage without good judgment is blind,

risking without knowing what is worth the risk.

Courage without perseverance is short-lived,

etc. Courage without a clear sense of your own

abilities is foolhardy.


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Courage

Excess Mean DeficiencyUnderestimates actualdanger

Correctly estimatesactual danger

Overestimates actualdanger

Overestimates ownability

Correctly estimates ownability

Underestimates ownability

Undervalues means,what is being placed atrisk

Properly values meansthat are being put at risk

Overvalues the means,what is being placed atrisk

Overvalues goal, whatthe risk is being taken

for

Properly values goal thatis being sought

Undervalues goal, whatthe risk would be taken

for


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Issues of Courage

Fears, dangers, and rightly-ordered fears

Seeking out danger: mountain climbing

Courage and nonviolence: Gandhi

Courage and gender

Womens courage is often undervalues

Mens courage is tied to their gender identity


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Compassion and Pity

Pity looks down on the other.

Consequently, no one wants to be the

object of pity. Compassion sees the suffering of the

other we something that could havehappened to us.

Consequently, we welcome thecompassion of others when we aresuffering.


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Compassion

Etymology: to feel or suffer with

Both cognitive and emotional

Leads to action

Excess: the bleeding heart

Deficiency: moral callousness

Contrast with pity


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Compassion as an Emotion

Emotion is often necessary:

to recognize the suffering of others

emotional attunement

part of the response to that suffering

others often need to feel that you care


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Compassion and

Moral Imagination

Example from Le ChambonLater in the week they captured an Austrian Jew named Steckler

he had made the mistake of going to a pharmacy without all of his

papers. The police put himtheir only prisonerin one of the bigbuses. As he sat there, the villagers started gathering around theperiphery of the square. The son of Andre Trocm [the villagepastor], Jean-Pierre, walked up to the window of the bus at whichSteckler sat and gave him his last piece of rationed (imitation)chocolate. This started the closing of the circle of villagers. They

brought their most precious foodstuffs and put them through thewindow into Stecklers arms. Soon the quiet little man had a pileof gifts around him about as high as he sat in the seat.

When the buses left with their one Jew the villagers sang a song of

affection and farewell to him.


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Cleverness and Wisdom

The clever person knows the best

means to any possible end.

The wise person knows which ends

are worth striving for.


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Self-Love

Introduction Involves feeling, knowing, and acting

Characteristics of loving another person:

Feelings of tenderness, care, appreciation,respect toward that person

Knowing that person (infatuation usually does

not involve knowledge)

Acting in ways that promote the flourishing of

that person


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Self-Love

Principal Characteristics

Characteristics of self-love

Having feelings of care, appreciation,

and respect for others Valuing yourself--flows from feelings of

self-love

Knowing yourself--a long, often

arduous, and never completed task Acting in ways that promote your

genuine flourishing


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Self-Love:

Deficiency

Deficiency

Too little feeling: self-loathing

Too little self-valuing: self-deprecating

Too little self-knowledge: unwilling or

unable to look at ones own

motivations, feelings, etc.

Too little acting: not taking steps to

insure ones own well-being


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Self-Love:

Excess

Excesses of self-love take many forms:

arrogance, conceit, egoism, vanity, and

narcissism are but a few of the ways inwhich we can err in this direction.

Too much caring: self-centeredness

Too much self-valuing: arrogance, conceit

Too much self-knowledge: narcissistic

Too much acting for self: selfishness


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Forgiveness

This, too, is a virtue indispensable for

human flourishing

In any long-term relationship (friendship,marriage, etc.), each party will do things that

must be forgiven by the other.

Long term relationships are necessary to

human flourishing.

If we cannot forgive, we cannot have

continuing long term relationships


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Cleverness and Wisdom

The clever person knows the best

means to any possible end.

The wise person knows which ends

are worth striving for.


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Concluding Evaluation

Virtues are those strengths of

character that enable us to flourish

The virtuous person has practical

wisdom, the ability to know when

and how best to apply these various

moral perspectives.

Documents

The Ethics of Character: Virtues & Vices